Sheriff substation to open in Valley Springs

VALLEY SPRINGS - More than four years ago, in the summer of 2008, the Valley Springs Substation of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office became one of the first victims of the economic downturn that has been squeezing government budgets since.

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By Dana M. Nichols

recordnet.com

By Dana M. Nichols

Posted Jan. 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Dana M. Nichols

Posted Jan. 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Valley Springs substation opening

The public is invited to an opening ceremony at 1 p.m. Wednesday for the Valley Springs Substation of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office. The new substation is in the Valley Oaks Shopping Center...

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Valley Springs substation opening

The public is invited to an opening ceremony at 1 p.m. Wednesday for the Valley Springs Substation of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office. The new substation is in the Valley Oaks Shopping Center, 55 Highway 26, Valley Springs.

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VALLEY SPRINGS - More than four years ago, in the summer of 2008, the Valley Springs Substation of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office became one of the first victims of the economic downturn that has been squeezing government budgets since.

Dennis Downum, who was then sheriff, said money woes forced his hand.

Two years later in 2010, Downum retired and a new sheriff, Gary Kuntz, won election after promising he would re-open the substation.

But government finances didn't improve, and neither did the crime picture in Valley Springs, said residents there. Kuntz found it difficult to find funds for a substation at a time when he was forced to cut his staff.

Now, thanks in part to the help of a new nonprofit organization formed last year to raise money for the Sheriff's Office, Kuntz is about to keep his promise.

On Wednesday, Kuntz will preside at a grand opening celebration for a substation in a storefront between the Mar Val grocery and the CVS Pharmacy on Highway 12 at Highway 26.

"It worked very well years ago," Kuntz said of the former substation. "When I was a patrol sergeant I worked down there out of the substation."

Law enforcement officers and residents said that Valley Springs, especially the historic downtown near the shopping center, has seen more than its share of crime in the past few years.

Marvin Brown, a Valley Springs resident, was fatally beaten in the summer of 2011 not far from the downtown commercial district. James Livezey, another Valley Springs resident, is serving a prison term for that killing.

More recently, residents and businesses said they've suffered a spate of burglaries and thefts.

Candace Keesey, owner of a cleaning business in Valley Springs, decided last year she would form an organization, Friends of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office, to raise money and resolve the financial hurdle to reopening the substation.

"That was the motivation for me to start this nonprofit. And then it's morphed into a county-wide grass roots project to support our sheriff's office," Keesey said.

Kuntz said that former Calaveras County Supervisor Gary Tofanelli, who left office in December, also helped.

"He was able to get me $4,000 during budget time to pay at least half the rent," Kuntz said.

Meanwhile, Keesey said the nonprofit group has raised about $12,000 since September. In addition to helping support the $800 monthly rent for the substation, she said the organization also will help pay the costs for training and deploying a drug-sniffing dog. Currently, the Sheriff's Office has to borrow a drug dog from another agency, she said.

In addition to opening the substation, Kuntz also recently assigned Cpl. Rudi Leon to be the resident deputy in Valley Springs.

Leon won't be the only one in the substation. Sheriff's Department volunteers also will staff the facility.

The new substation will save officers time by providing a place to do paperwork and hold meetings without having to drive back to headquarters in San Andreas.

Kuntz said that area residents should see results soon from the increased law enforcement presence.

"It is located in a really good spot," Kuntz said. "We've been having some petty thefts in there, small-time drug dealing, that kind of thing. That is going to be a good location. I think we can reduce some crimes."